My FAVORITE of all holidays (and holy days), rich with symbolism and meaning. It is not only deeply spiritual, but full of meaning I get to publicly share during the season, my best witnessing days each year!
Is. 9.2 a people walking in darkness have seen a great light
This version of the song is from Chris Tomlin’s Christmas album, but the musical genius (Matt) wrote it (and leads most of it) and every Christmas, I can’t help singing it. And each Christmas when I drive into my neighborhood and see the lights on the houses, I know they are declaring, whether those who strung them realize the truth they represent or not, that the Light of the world came. Every twinkling light, every candle lit that pierces the darkness that would otherwise be there represents Jesus, the light of the world. Jesus dispelled a darkness that can never overtake us again. We are children of the Light.
I look out my window on a December night and I remember: The Light came, He shines!
John 8.12 Jesus said: I am the light of the world…
When (if) I blog about Christmas, when (if) I get the time (because I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas), I shall place this banner in the body of the blog.
Here is what it has:
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“Keep Christmas” because that is actually one of my blog categories and is derived from the Charles Dickens quote, which you may read at the bottom.
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Next there are 1960s baubles and I love the merry cheer they invoke. They were the type of ornament I grew up with and make me happy. It was a google image I happened by and I don’t recall the source. Thank-you, some random jpg-poster!
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Then, I allow you a “sneak peek” at some little Rhoades Family Fun we had a few weeks back. There are some darn cute pictures that will go one our Christmas card – if ever I actually get around to doing that! The grandbebes just bring me joy!
This particular shot (used in the banner) was a split secondbefore total chaos erupted. At this precise moment, Amelie is watching her little tiny life flash before her eyes, because the donkeys just got spooked by the {giant} white calf that walked up on the right. Meanwhile, the alpaca on the left has freaked out the billy goat, who is madly ramming his horns in to a bail of hay and has caused Gemma May to run to hide behind Averi. The miniature donkeys nearly trampled the whole lot of my bebes, but it did not stop our photo shoot. Oh no, it did not. We kept right on shooting with angel-Amelie and Baby (Sawyer) Jesus crying their heads off in the frigid air. It was a hilarious sight to see.
Hunter asked if this was the last year we’d be doing a nativity. “Oh no,” I told him. “Pretty much you’ll be in a Christmas Nativity scene for my Christmas cards until you’re grown and married and have kids I can use.” He seemed to shrug that off without much surprise.
This shot of Stef holding “Baby Jesus” dressed in pink and Rocky holding Baby Jesus’ body-double cracks me up, for some reason.
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The final photo is of the actual tree-topper my family used in the 1960s. “Angel hair,” or spun glass, was all the rage (we’d all tell horror stories of children we’d heard of who’d been dumb enough to run their fingers over the glass threads and began bleeding profusely on to the Christmas tree, each story topping the previous). Truthfully (true confessions) , I never knew of a single cut, yet the myth persisted and annually, we were careful-beyond-carefulto avoid bleeding out as we decorated wih the mysterious and deadly angel hair.
My mom says she picked this topper up in a grocery store, circa 1964. This is what Stormie says I have to explain: I was holding the topper at arms length in front of me because it is the story. She thought I’d just pasted it onto a blurry photo of myself. So there. You can’t see my arm much, but it was there! The ANGEL was the focus (or should I say, the “paper angel” to fully distinguish between the two of us? ;D ha-ha-ha ).
Oh. Well, I DID paste on a fake Santa hat. There is that, I guess.
In the end, the banner is just a reminder to you, to me, to KEEP CHRISTMAS, the celebration & worship of the Christ, because Jesus is all, and all in all….
Elise was here this weekend and brought gifts she and her mom had made for all of us “girls.” This one is mine, all mine!
Christmas planners!
Inside front cover, inside back cover…I have never felt so inspired to deck the halls and keep Christmas order! So pretty. So fun! THANK-YOU, Moslander women!
Got to hang with cousins Hunter and Averi recently, which was lovely.
click on thumbnails for a larger view
And Rocky sang to Jovan for her birthday.
A Bruno Mars song. She loved it. His mommy may even have cried a little at the romance of such sweetness. Isn’t it nice when we can love someone just the way they are (even if we’d tweek them a little here or there if it were up to us??}? And isn’t it glorious beyond comprehension when some one loves us that way???
And my little Kelley-sisters-grandbebes visited
Under the canopy of yellow-leafed Aspens just beyond the patio. We use Christmas lights in trees even in summer for magical nights under blue-blue skies.
And this is a SNEAK PEEK at some Rhoades family fun we had at the farm this weekend. More to come!
In reference to my recent, loooooong post about hating Halloween…
I graffitti’ed a shot from www.lilacphotography.com You can see I have discovered Picnik and will surely soon tire of it, yet find it fun at the moment.
A Christmas present I shall be making for 2 young grandbebes, who shall remain nameless, but may or may not be pictured in this blog post (thank-you, Martha Stewart, for the idea) sent me to Michael’s…where I bought a bag of something I’ll need (which I can’t tell you in case said grandbebes read this! ;p ), which is usually $5.99, however was on a clearance table for $2.99, but when in fact, I went through the check-out, was only 1-cent. That is right! One red penny.
I sense God’s smile on this project. I’ll give you a sneak peek later. Shhhhhh…..
“In all my travels past and all my travels yet to come, I’ll never find a better friend.”
~Mr. Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street (1995).
I have a strong emotional response each time I hear that line in the this classic Christmas movie remake by John Hughes. I mean ~ Kris Kringle had to have had a lot of friends and we know he travelled extensively, right? I thought the quote must have come from classic literature, but I am unable to find any reference to it anywhere else (meaning Google).
It just makes me wonder…
How many people in a lifetime do you think you really, actually get to say this to and mean it? And how many people could even say it to you?
{By the way, I MET Santa the other night myself at the Parks and Rec Board Meeting where he received an award for his generous service to the community. And guess what!??! He said he’ll be at Heaven Fest!}
Although I am very fond of my vintage orange kitchen accessories from Steph and fam (plus an all-new blog design!). And my new work-out pants have revved up my power-walking. I adore the o-so-flattering jeans Stormie bought me: they fit!…did my legs just get longer? Did I just get a needed lift? And DP and Tara and the I-POD Touch…omygoodness. Just waiting for my life’s best song list to get to 7000 or so (well on my way).
Rocky and Jovanie know I need my medium-rare steak and plenty of it. Off to The Outback I shall go, several times (plus the “Jeanie green” coffee cup? Lovin’ it!)! Tre Tre is going to do a photo shoot for me – of anything or anyone I want! It will be a shoot of my kids and grandkids, of course ~ what else??
Little brother, Joe sent me a book on how to talk southern (they do have their own way) that was a family fav in the 70’s and a 2-set LP by The Rambos, THE Moslander-family music-of-my-life. My husband loaded me up with clothes and all the things he knows I love and like to have on hand…
I got showered with lots of great, thoughtful, sweet, beautiful gifts for Christmas. There was way more than I deserved, but I sure love it all.
But really? It is when I have been blessed with something of the giver, a portion of their heart ~ in thoughtfulness, sweet words, a shared secret, a common memory, treasured moments and especially their time – that I know I have been gifted beyond my ability to ever repay or comprehend. To receive something that reveals a part of another person’s heart to me is the greatest gift I could ever hope for.
Thank-you to all of you who share yourselves with me (your dreams, your fears, your hopes and love…and just ~ you). My heart is enlarged in the receiving. And I am…gifted. Grateful.
